Profession

Professions define a character's skill set, attributes, and armor, much like the character classes defined in other RPG games. A character starts with a primary profession and is also able to obtain a secondary profession.

A character's primary profession (or primary for short) determines that character's appearance, the armor and runes they can use, and their available skills and attributes. For example, a Necromancer cannot wear the same armor that a Warrior can, and vice versa. Also, unique to each profession is a primary attribute, which is only available to characters who choose that primary.
A character's primary profession is the only choice that cannot be changed once that character has been created.

A character's secondary profession (or secondary) provides them with a second set of attributes and skills to complement the first. However, a character does not have access to their secondary profession's primary attribute, severely limiting the use of skills linked to that attribute (although characters may still obtain skills from the primary attribute of their secondary.) In addition, a character cannot use runes from their secondary profession, so their secondary attributes cannot normally increase beyond a rank of 12.

Role-playing characters cannot change freely between secondary professions until they have Ascended (Prophecies), become Weh no Su (Factions) or completed the quest Hunted! (Nightfall). Doing the Hunted! quest only qualifies native Elonians. Ascended Prophecies characters can take quests to unlock each secondary profession or visit the Profession Changer. Characters from other campaigns without access to Prophecies can only unlock secondary professions at a Profession Changer for a fee of 500 . Once a secondary profession has been unlocked, that character can freely switch between all the unlocked secondary professions via the Skills and Attributes Panel in any town or outpost, or by talking to a profession changer again. Heroes and PvP characters can switch to any secondary profession from any campaign linked to the player's account.1

Core professions are those available in every release of Guild Wars, so they may be chosen as primary professions in any chapter. They are also the only available professions in the Prophecies campaign.

These professions are only available to players who own Factions.1 Role-playing characters may only choose these professions as their primary one if they are created in Cantha, though a character from any continent will also have access to these professions as secondary once they have met the qualifications to change their secondary profession. PvP characters may choose these professions as primary or secondary as long as Factions is attached to the account.

These professions are only available to players who own Nightfall.1 Role-playing characters may only choose these professions as their primary one if they are created in Elona, though a character from any continent will also have access to these professions as secondary once they have met the qualifications to change their secondary profession. PvP characters may choose these professions as primary or secondary as long as Nightfall is attached to the account.

1 Players who purchase the PvP Access Kit have access to all professions, and can freely change their secondary profession at no cost. They are restricted to creating PvP characters only, and cannot leave the Battle Isles, unless they also have one or more of the role-playing campaigns added to their account.

The vast majority of NPCs combatants in Prophecies, Factions and Nightfall only use skills from a single profession; however, many NPCs in Eye of the North and a few NPCs in the campaigns have skills from two or more professions. There are also a few NPCs with their own monster skills that do not belong to any profession.